Carrying frame for rucksacks



y 10, 1951 E. BERGSLAND 2,560,406

CARRYING FRAME FOR RUC KSACKS Filed Aug. 7, 1947 Patented July 10, r1951 Application. August 7, 1947, seam. 767,212

, r In- Norwa y-January 15, 1945 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8,1946 Patentexpires January 15, 1965 The carrying frame for rucksackshitherto known, have had; as their main object, the avoidance of contactwith the back. Only at the lower portion the carrying frame has had aback bow, theoutermost points of which have been connected with aso-called girdle strap, which has lain evenly and pliably against theback. The carrying straps are fastened to the back bow below, whilstabov they are connected to the carrying frame and to the sack by twosmaller auxil iary straps or by some other arrangement.

This carrying system has, however, the fault, that the top of the sackis pulled away from the uppermost part of the back, which makes the sackunnecessarily heavy to carry, especially the strain on the weakest partof the back, the lumbar region is unnecessarily great.

The invention has for its purpose to combine the action of heaving up onto the back of the neck, as practised by dock labourers, with separatingthe sack from the back, further down, at a distance especiallyadvantageous to the shoulder blades. The carrying frame must thereforebe shaped in another way. It is assumed that the frame, as previouslyknown, is in contact with the lumbar region of the back, at hip level,with the aid of the mentioned girdle strap, and further up the back, theframe is as previously held at a favourable distance from the back, andfrom the place, or slightly under, where the carrying straps, or theirauxiliary straps above lead out from the frame (or from a leather cap atthe top of the frame), the frame has an extension which is bent upwardsand inwards, towards the back portion of the bearers neck.

It is usual to equip the frame, at a point slightly below its topmostportion, with a transverse piece between the two symmetrical halves ofthe frame. In accordance with the invention the carrying straps passedup from the lower portion of the frame, are passed up on the outside(considered in relation to the side of the frame turned inwards to thebearers back) of the above-mentioned upper transverse piece and thenover same and inwards to the shoulder, so that the upper portion of theframe which is bent inwards to the neck is pulled in towards the bearersneck by the force in the carrying straps. Each of the carrying straps isthen passed through a hole in the inner portion of the customary leathercap, to which the sack is fastened, and then forwards over theshoulders, the leather piece being preferably provided with loops on theinside of the inner portion at the bottom, and on the inside of theouter portion higher up, through which the 3 claims. (01. 224-25)carrying straps are pulled. The *upper loops lie almost in level with,or a little lower'than, the afore-mentioned transverse piece on theframe proper. H

The invention is described more detailed with reference to the drawing.Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically the ordinary carrying frame, Fig. 2 thenew frame and Fig. 3 its upper section drawn to a larger scale.

In Figs. 1 and 2, l is the bearers back and neckline. In Fig. 1, 2 isthe frame with upper leather cap 3, attached sack 4 and lower back bow 5forming part of the bottom portion of the frame. From each end of thebow 5 a carrying strap 6 is directed upwards on the frame inside (theside facing against the wearer) and forwards over the bearers shoulders,but uppermost on the leather cap 3, is fastened for each carrying strap6 a little auxiliary strap 8 which is connected adjustably with thecarrying strap 6, at 9.

Consequently, the parts 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 belong to the frame proper, andthe carrying straps thus leads out from the frame at 9. It will be seenthat the frame proper 2, 3 ends uppermost in level with or somewhatbelow this place 9.

However as Fig. 2 shows, the extension ll] of the frame from point 9',from where the carrying straps lead out, is bent in towards the back ofthe neck portion, and follows its line i, as well as possible. Thebending inwards may here begin a little lower down, as at I I, and thecap 3 then extends further down than usual. Each carrying strap 6 isthen passed up on the inside of the cap interior (lying nearest the backor the neck), through a slide slot l2 (Fig. 3), placed lower down fromthere further up and through a slide slot IS, on the inside of theexterior portion of the cap then up over the transverse piece M of thecap and through a hole l5 forwards over the shoulder.

With such a frame and cap, the sack will not only hang well out from theback, but will also follow well along the line of the neck.Simultaneously, the top of the sack is held closely in to the back andneck. The centre of gravity in the sack is displaced upwards and inwardstowards the neck.

I claim:

1. A rigid carrying frame for use with a rucksack and comprisingsymmetrical side members; a top member and a bottom member connectingthe ends of the side members; a transverse member spaced below the topmember and also connecting the side members; and carrying strapsconnected to the outlying ends of the bottom member and each comprising,a rear stand passing upwardly from the said outlying ends on thewearer's side of the frame, rearwardly below the transverse member andforwardly between the transverse member and the top member to pass overthe wearers shoulders, and a front strand passing downwardly from theshoulders to the sides and rearwardly back to the outlying ends; theextreme top portion of the frame above the transverse member beingcurved forwardly to a point closely adjacent the wearers neck.

2. A carrying frame as in claim 1 further comprising: a cap elementcovering the said top portion to a point below the transverse member andhaving a front portion near the wearer's back and a rear portion remotetherefrom, and lower and upper slide loops below the transverse memberon the inside of the cap-element, the lower loops being attached to thesaid front portion and the upper loops to the said rear portion, the,said front portion being provided with apertures above the transversemember, and the rear strands of the carrying straps passing upwardlythrough said lower loops, rearwardly toward and through said upperloops, thence forwardly above the transverse member and through theapertures toward the shoulders.

3. A carrying frame as in claim 1 further comprising: a cap elementcovering the said top portion to a point below the transverse member andhaving a front portion near the wearer's back and a rear portion remotetherefrom, the said front portion being provided with apertures abovethe transverse member, and the rear strands of the carrying strapspassing upwardly from the transverse member and through the aperturestoward the shoulders.

EINAR BERGSLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

